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Haiti
Haiti is a nation on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. It borders the Dominican Republic. The majority of Haiti's population is black. A former French colony, Haiti is unique in that it was the first country in Latin America to gain independence, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion. As a young nation, Haiti's growth was stunted due to paying large amounts of tribute to France in return for French recognition of independence. This was compounded by the misrule and power struggle between various kings and dictators over the last 150 years. These factors have led to Haiti's current status as the poorest country in the Americas. Haiti in Atlantis The artist and naturalist John James Audubon was born on the island of Santo Tomás, south and east of Atlantis, but was brought to France three years later. This meant he avoided the slave uprising that convulsed the island and left most whites dead or exiled.See e.g.: Atlantis and Other Places, pg. 14, HC. Towards the end of the Atlantean Servile Insurrection, Jeremiah Stafford wondered whether the Free Republic of Atlantis would devolve into an anarchic society similar to Haiti if it managed to gain independence, as both states were formed from slave rebellions. Literary Note As the country mentioned is located south of Atlantis, and like Haiti was a former French colony before independence was gained through a slave revolt, it is assumed that Harry Turtledove had Haiti in mind. It is included here for convenience. Haiti in Southern Victory Haiti was a traditional US ally in the Entente-dominated Caribbean. It signed a mutual defense pact with US President Thomas Brackett Reed in the late nineteenth century after the Confederate States, a nation created to preserve slavery, appeared to be preparing to invade Haiti. During the Great War, Haiti was overrun by Confederate and British forces and its government was exiled to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia, the government aligned itself with the Central Powers and was among the first governments to extend diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Quebec. The government was restored to power in Haiti after the Great War. In 1936, a Haitian runner won a bronze medal in the 1936 Olympic Games in Richmond, much to the disgust of Confederate President Jake Featherston, who had unsuccessfully attempted to bar black athletes from participating in the games. In 1941, in the early days of the Second Great War, Entente forces took the United States' main Caribbean base, Bermuda, leading to Haiti's invasion by the Confederate States shortly afterwards. The Confederate States ran a death camp south of Port-au-Prince, where first political prisoners were murdered, then intellectuals, and then all black inhabitants of Haiti that fell afoul of the Confederates. The US liberated Haiti in 1944, and the Confederate garrison quickly surrendered to the U.S. rather than face the wrath of the Haitian population. Despite Haiti's black majority meaning that the social disadvantages of dark skin seen throughout continental North America did not apply there, most Confederate blacks were content to remain where they were prior to the arrival of the Freedom Party, deeming the repression of the C.S. government preferable to the instability and violence that plagued Haiti. Haiti in Worldwar Haiti was an American ally in World War II and the subsequent war against the Race's Conquest Fleet. As the Race had little interest in islands, Haiti was one of the few Latin American nations to maintain sovereignty rather than be colonised by the Race after the Peace of Cairo in 1944. See also *Santo Domingo, for Haiti in The Two Georges References Category:Countries in North America Category:Allied Forces Members Category:French Empire (OTL) Category:Atlantis Category:Southern Victory Category:American Empire (OTL) Category:American Empire (Alternate Timeline) Category:Central Powers Members (Alternate Timeline) Category:Worldwar